Musical Preferences
by seek-to-enchant121584
Summary: When Casey overhears a song from her music collection coming from Derek's room, Casey sets out to discover why Derek is borrowing her music once again. But will she like his response? Pre-Dasey.


Author's note: Okay, so I'm fairly sure _neither_ of them have an i-Pod in the show, but I temporarily suspended Life With Derek reality and said that they do for the purposes of my little one-shot (which is also my first in the LWD universe!). I hope that that's alright. Yeah, and I used Boston as Casey and Derek's arguing point. Unfortunately, I'm not familiar with the Canadian rock scene of _any_ decade, much less the ones before I was even born. So...if anyone has any suggestions or helpful music hints about any cool-sounding Canadian bands, I wouldn't mind at all. Yeah, I'm kind of a talker when it comes to these author's notes. Guess it comes from my whole not talking much in real life. (Indifferent shrug) Anyway...

Music suggestions: 'Amanda' by Boston.

Disclaimer: Different category, same old line: I don't own Life With Derek. Whether it be movie (is there even one?), TV show, or book, I don't own any of them.

Musical Preferences

"Derek, what are you listening to?" Casey asked in a bewildered tone as she walked through his open door way and into his room.

Derek's head fell back against the back of his desk chair and winced. Of course she'd decided to stay home while everyone else went out. It was as if she made it a personal mission to keep track of his every move and never let him out of her sight. And of course he had to go and make the mistake of thinking that Casey would actually get a life and leave the house outside of school hours so he could have a chance to do things atypical of his rep.

Like listen to some "borrowed" Casey music in peace.

"Umm...nothing?" Derek supplied evasively, hitting the 'pause' button on his i-Tunes.

"You may think I'm a space case, but my hearing's just fine." Casey retorted, crossing her arms over her chest and staring at him unwaveringly.

Derek almost squirmed under her gaze. However, he steadfastly refused to give in to the urge.

"It's 'Amanda' by Boston." Derek mumbled so quietly Casey stepped further into his room and leaned over his desk.

"I'm sorry, what'd you say?" Casey asked in a mocking tone, she'd known the song the moment she passed by his room. "I couldn't hear you."

"Didn't you just say something about your excellent hearing?" Derek teased, diverting the topic. "Perhaps you _should_ go get it checked."

"Der-ek! I know you were listening to 'Amanda' by Boston!" Casey exclaimed, too frustrated to keep up with the teasing. "I want to know why. Bands like Boston are _my_ music, not yours!"

"Hey! I take offense to that!" Derek replied, sitting up straight as he leaned on his desk. "You don't know what kinds of music I like and Boston isn't _your_ band. I can like Boston if I want to!" Derek finished in a childish argumentative tone. It's not as if it mattered that he'd granted himself access to her i-Tunes account and "borrowed" a few songs from her library.

"It was my band first!" Casey exclaimed in retort.

"How would you know?" Derek returned defensively, "The band's been around since before either of us were born. It's not exactly the type of music that I'd like to advertise that I like, but that doesn't mean I didn't listen to them before you came around!" Derek finished defensively. And maybe, just maybe, the song reminded him of her and his situation just the slightest bit.

"Prove it." Casey said in a challenging tone, her eyes narrowing.

"Excuse me?" Derek said, swallowing the squeak that threatened to betray him as she'd caught him off-guard. "Prove it?" he echoed incredulously. "I don't need to _prove_ anything." Derek said, air quoting prove.

"Yes, you do." Casey said definitively, standing up straight and walking around his desk purposefully.

"What are you doing?" Derek said, shrinking away warily as she came to stand beside him.

"Follow me." Casey said shortly, pinching the top of his right ear between her forefinger and thumb and started walking.

"Casey!" Derek exclaimed painfully, standing and trailing along behind her awkwardly as he attempted to keep Casey from ripping his ear off. He really liked his ears. "Ow...ow...ow." Derek uttered at two second intervals from his room until they rounded the corner into hers and she shoved him into her computer chair.

Not yet relinquishing his ear despite his attempts to swat her hand away, Casey wound her arm around his head while still holding onto his ear as she bent down to open up the i-Tunes account on her computer with her free hand. Derek tilted his head back slightly, trying to look up at her.

"Have you gone completely mental?" Derek asked seriously. "And don't think I'm going to let you get away with this 'ear tugging' thing. You just caught me off-guard. You know what they say about payback."

"Uh huh." Casey replied distractedly, not really paying attention to what he was saying. At this point, receiving threats from Derek was like breathing...she wasn't even conscious of most of it anymore. After i-Tunes opened up, she scrolled down the list until she found the song in question. "See there? I've had this song alone for as long as I've had an i-Pod. Further back than the date you have." she finished triumphantly, pointing at the screen.

"Yeah, fine. That's great." Derek mumbled unenthusiastically, barely glancing at the screen, paying more attention the floral scent that was surrounding him as her hair fell over her shoulders and around his head in thick waves. He then tilted his head back as far as he could to look up at her, coming to a stop on her chest. " You've had the song forever and a day longer than I have. Can I go now?"

"Hmm?" Casey said distractedly, her thoughts having wandered for a moment. She couldn't help the fact that this was the closest a guy's head had ever been to her chest. "What did you say?"

Yeah, he was about to do something stupid. He was going to _flirt_ with Casey.

"Am I gonna have to fight my way out?" Derek asked in a quiet tone, a finger trailing along the arm pinning him down. "Because in the end, I usually let the girl win and she's never disappointed."

Casey relinquished her hold as if his skin scaled her and staggered back a few steps, her eyes wide. Did Derek almost _flirt_ with her? When had the table turned to such an angle? Was he feeling well? _She_ must be coming down with something considering she almost took on the challenge just to see what he'd do. He never let her win before. And just _what_ exactly did winning entail?

When Derek turned to face her, a mock-crestfallen look graced his features. He didn't say anything until he was standing right beside her.

Leaning in, he whispered in her ear in a disappointed tone, "Shame. I was kind of looking forward to it."

She'd had a point when she first came into the room. What was it again?

oooooocooo*oooooovooo*oooooosooo

I'm not really sure where exactly this came from in my brain. But I figured I'd take a shot, even if it is kind of out there. Does it make _any _sense at all? Is there something I could add that would make it flow any better? In other news, I've recently been attacked by a Dasey muse–which oddly resembles Michael Seater–and it's like I can't write anything else lately. And I totally got the ear-pulling idea from Nora in "The Wedding" episode (just a little FYI from me to you). I've written out four other ideas, and this is well...the _lightest_ of the group, if you get what I'm saying–yeah, my brain's kind of stuck in the gutter. Have a little mercy. Was it any good at all? Please put me out of my worrying misery either way. WBL.


End file.
